Past Research

During my masters, I focused on how control theory tools can be used to overcome some of the challenges faced by modern power systems.

Model Predictive Control (MPC) for Load Shaping and Voltage Control in Smart Grids

Electricity power systems which traditionally generate electricity energy from fossil fuels and transmit it to demand are moving towards a new stage. In order to mitigate environmental pollution and climate change, sustainable/renewable energy resources have been largely integrated into power grids. However, since the renewables are highly intermittent and usually cannot match the load, the local energy balancing becomes a big challenge; this unbalance between supply and demand can cause a significant rise in the voltage level in the grid. Moreover, over-generation during off-peak hours can cause load leveling problems and may result in so called “duck curve.”

The good news is that flexible loads (like Electric vehicles, batteries, etc.), even though represent an additional load on the distribution systems, are controllable and thereby offers an important opportunity. In this work, we explore how flexible loads can be used to flatten the load profile during the period of over-generation (also referred to as the “belly” of duck).